


Of Troublesome Tails

by Lumelle



Series: Furs and Feathers [3]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Animal Ears, Animal Traits, Animal Transformation, F/M, Getting Together, M/M, Tails
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-06-04 02:13:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6636916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumelle/pseuds/Lumelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fíli may not use his tail for much besides swatting away flies, but he knows other dwarves use theirs for much more varied reasons. He certainly knows what a wagging tail signifies, having grown up with a wolf for a brother.</p><p>Reading the messages of Ori's tail may not always be easy for poor Fíli, but he is certainly going to do his best to learn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Troublesome Tails

Fíli had never paid overly much attention to tails.

It wasn't that they were entirely without meaning to a lion, of course. Just about every dwarf with enough of a tail for it to show under their clothes found some meaning in its movements, whether on purpose or not. Fíli had grown up reading the tails of his mother and uncle on instinct more than learning, while remaining puzzled by any but the most obvious cues from those with different animals. Dwalin and Balin's tails seemed to work the same for the most part, and Glóin and Óin were lions too, of course, but there were very few others that Fíli would have seen on a regular basis who were as easy to read. His education involved learning the most common cues, of course, just as Balin drilled all kinds of other signs into his head. Politics was as much about reading those around you and their intentions as it was ordering and demanding, after all, and as he was to be his uncle's heir, he had to be educated accordingly. Even so, it was never as easy to read others as it was to glance at one of his fellow cats, knowing their mood from the slightest flicker of an ear or a tail.

Wolves, now, Fíli understood wolves. He hadn't had too much time to learn to read his father, sadly, but Kíli had been by his side almost his entire life, and while Fíli would never read him on instinct he had learnt all the usual signs. He could tell at a glance when Kíli was lying or tired or sad or cheerful, even without the briefest look at his actual expression. Few dwarves could read those of another species so clearly unless it was their mate, particularly if the other dwarf was so different a species. Fíli was quite proud of his skill, for all that he didn't announce it to everyone. Wolves were not that common among dwarves, but they did come up every now and then, and part of the diplomatic side of politics was never letting the other party know just how well you could read them.

Not that he needed much knowledge to read Kíli whenever he was near Tauriel, of course. You'd think his brother was trying to take flight with the way his tail wagged every time he saw his pretty she-elf. Fíli had seen birds who put less effort into taking to the air. It was supposed to be something that pups did, showing their excitement so clearly, but then Kíli was still young and he was very happy indeed whenever Tauriel drew near. He would grow out of it eventually, Fíli concluded, and for now it gave all the confirmation Fíli might have hoped for that Tauriel did indeed make his brother happy. That was all he needed to know, really, and he would be quite happy if the closer details of Kíli's excitement remained a mystery to him.

Ori, on the other hand, was not nearly as easy to read, certainly not at first.

He knew foxes were somewhat similar to wolves, and then not at all. They were so much smaller, after all, solitary things outside their immediate family instead of pack animals, and really if their bodies had not been so similarly shaped he might not have known there to be any relation at all. However, he had heard they were considered kin, and trusted those who had studied the matters more closely to know what they were talking about. Even so, he had never truly considered that this could extend to things such as behaviour and the way they signalled with their tails.

When he had first seen Ori wagging his tail, Fíli had almost been angry, certain that the young scribe was making fun of Kíli. It had been before the Quest, back when Ori had only been known to them as a student of Balin's, sitting quietly in a corner working on his assignments while the princes received their lessons. When Kíli had asked Ori one day to join them for lunch, tail wagging in excitement, Ori's tail had done much the same. It had taken all of Fíli's self-control — which in those younger days had been even less notable than he liked to think it now could be called — not to snap and growl at the scribe for mimicking his brother. Clearly that was the only reason Ori would do such a thing, making fun of Kíli for his excitement.

Except then Kíli had asked Ori about his big ears, and Ori had told them he was a fox of some kind, and Fíli had just about managed to hold himself back before he entirely embarrassed himself by apologising for the things he hadn't actually even done. Ori hadn't been making fun of anyone, he had just been genuinely happy to be included. Wouldn't that have been princely behaviour, growling at him for that!

He'd asked about it later, still, just to make sure, and Ori had confirmed that the wagging tail did indeed mean the same for foxes as it did for young wolves. Ori had seemed a bit embarrassed about it, confiding in Fíli that he, too, was supposed to grow out of it, but Fíli had assured him it was charming if anything. It was such a full and fluffy tail, too, quite unlike Fíli's own short-haired tail that was only good for swatting flies and little else.

His knowledge of Kíli's moods had turned out to be useful as they spent more time with Ori, first in Ered Luin and later on the Quest. Ori wasn't the most open about his feelings in general, preferring not to draw attention and hide his expressions behind books and scarves, when he hadn't partaken in a little too much ale at least. There was no covering those ears, though, and concealing his tail would have been equally impractical, and so Fíli had plenty of time to make observations and comparisons. By the time they neared Erebor he could read Ori's moods almost as well as he did Kíli's, which he was finding to be a rather useful skill. Ori was not bad company by any means, and it seemed he could be quite social when he wasn't hiding away from everyone. That was something of a contrast to his brothers, both of whom seemed to prefer to keep their distance from strangers, but then clearly Ori wasn't entirely similar to them anyway. The couple of times he had seen Ori in his furs had made it clear that, while similar to the older foxes, Ori was very definitely a different animal, so obviously he would be somewhat different in behaviour as well.

Now the mountain was theirs, and Ori couldn't truly escape attention anymore, not now that he was one of the Company and a hero of Erebor. Fíli wasn't too surprised to notice that Ori dealt with this by often finding places to hide away from any semblance of a crowd, for all that he had become rather open with the rest of the Company. Perhaps he had simply come to view them all as some extension of his family, Fíli didn't know. He just made sure to watch the tail and ears for any signs that he might not be welcome before joining Ori wherever he was holed up for the moment. Luckily, the times when he turned away were not that numerous; more often than not Ori greeted him with a wagging tail and a small smile. This was good, Fíli decided, particularly since Kíli seemed to spend more and more time with Tauriel, leaving him alone more often than he had perhaps ever been in his life, certainly since the day his brother had been born.

It was a good thing, he kept telling himself. Tauriel made Kíli's tail go crazy with wagging so clearly she was a good thing, she was Kíli's pack now and Fíli had no right to stand in the way of that. Really, he should have considered himself nothing but lucky that he could trust his baby brother to someone who was so clearly good for him, just as he was lucky that Ori seemed more than happy to indulge Fíli's need for a pack now that Thorin was busy getting the mountain back in order and Kíli kept fawning after Tauriel. It almost seemed unfair, that he would be so very fortunate.

Really, he should have realised sooner that something was going on that he hadn't noticed.

*

Fíli needed to find Ori before he burst entirely.

After the first bout of panic and disbelief had faded, he had been left full of excitement. Kíli was going to be a father. Any moment now, the egg his brother had cradled for his beloved Tauriel would hatch properly, and they would have a child, a real, live child who would grow up to be an adorable little dwarfling or elfling or perhaps a little bit of both. And Fíli, Fíli would be an uncle, and he needed to share his excitement with someone before he burst at the seams.

He rather wondered if this was the feeling that had Kíli's tail wagging so whenever he saw Tauriel. Fíli certainly wished he'd had a similar way of relieving his excitement. As it was, his tail only swished for balance as he turned corners at somewhat more speed than was probably advisable in an inhabited mountain, however few their numbers might still have been.

He didn't run into anyone, though, literally or figuratively, until he made his way into the old royal library. A lot of the books and scrolls therein had been lost to time and neglect, but quite a few remained, and the library had become one of Ori's favourite hiding places when he needed a moment alone. That was where he was supposed to be right now, given that he had given the library as the reason why he didn't join the rest of the Company in the common room. Usually Fíli took this as a sign that he should not disturb Ori, certainly not so soon after they had parted, but he was rather confident Ori would like to hear this particular piece of news right away.

Indeed, he found Ori curled up in a small alcove at the back of the library. There was a book in front of him but Fíli wasn't sure he had been reading it for a while; if anything, Ori seemed about to fall asleep. As Fíli approached, though, he started awake, ears perking up and tail wagging as he saw Fíli.

"Fíli! What's the matter?" Ori's bright expression turned into a frown in the blink of an eye. "I didn't sleep right past dinner again, did I? Dori probably sent you, didn't he, he still fusses far too much."

"No, nothing like that." Fíli laughed. "It's just, something happened, and I wanted to tell you right away!"

"Oh?" Ori blinked, carefully dropping down to the floor from the alcove. Even standing up he was not even nearly Fíli's height, almost as small and adorable as his fox form. Well, perhaps not quite so. "Something good, I hope?"

"So good." Fíli's grin grew even wider, if that was even possible. "I'm going to be an uncle!"

"What?" Ori's eyes widened almost comically, his ears twitching as though he wasn't sure if he had heard right. "What do you mean?"

"See, Kíli had made Tauriel a gift, right? Except being Kíli, he didn't think too much about it, and decided to make her an egg. He carved an egg out of stone for someone whose animal is a bird, and then Tauriel carried it around with her as a symbol of Kíli's feelings for her."

Ori gasped. "You mean… it was given life?"

"Yes! It started hatching, I saw it myself, there's definitely something living inside. Apparently it might take a while, though, so I decided to come and tell you. Most of the Company knows already, we were all there when Tauriel realised something was going on, so I wanted to let you know as soon as I could."

"Ah. Thank you for letting me know, then." Ori smiled, now, his tail wagging as happily as it had when Fíli first appeared. "I know you probably want nothing as much as to be there when the egg hatches."

"Yes, well, I suppose the important thing is that Kíli and Tauriel see it." Fíli shook his head in fond disbelief. "Can you imagine? Suddenly having a babe to care for, without even a nest or any sort of necessities! They were already worrying about how to feed it. Well, Tauriel was; I don't think Kíli had any care for anything else than the fact that he might have a child with his beloved. Nor did I, for that matter, but luckily Bilbo thought of it immediately and started working on it. Good thing there's a few people in the Company who know something about child-care, or they might be entirely lost with this."

"That's lucky indeed." Ori's smile widened. "I'm so happy for them. This will hopefully make some people less worried about Kíli's relationship, since clearly it doesn't mean he can't bring more heirs to the line. And, well, I'm sure they are happy about it, getting to raise a child with the one they love, even if it is something of a surprise."

"Who wouldn't be happy about that?" Indeed, it seemed impossible to think that anyone would be upset about such news. Fíli himself certainly couldn't imagine being anything but elated if he'd heard that his love for someone had born fruit, surprise or not. Though he supposed he would have preferred to have some sort of a warning, time to guard his mate and make them comfortable and provide for them, carrying food to the den and —

Now what was he talking about? Lions didn't have their pups in dens. He'd heard often enough the older ones telling stories about how his mother had been when she had been bearing them, driving their father to distraction when his instincts wanted to keep her home and safe while she had no desire whatsoever to hide away until she was just about ready to give birth. Apparently he had tolerated it easier by the time Kíli was born, but Fíli himself had caused them quite some trouble.

"Well, not everyone would be, particularly in such a contested situation." Ori's smile dimmed a little, and no, that shouldn't have happened, not ever. Ori had the sweetest smile when he actually showed it, whether it was the shy little curl of lips when he didn't want to draw too much attention or the bright beaming one that almost reminded Fíli of Kíli's brightest days.

"This is a good thing, though, and they are both happy, for all that there's a lot to do all of a sudden." Of that, he was certain. "I very nearly thought Kíli's tail would come clean off, and Thorin seemed happy as well. He definitely wasn't giving them any sort of trouble, so it's not like anyone can try to claim that they're upsetting him by being together."

"If someone had told me a year ago that he would give any approval to one of his nephews being together with an elf, I don't think I would have believed a word."

"Neither would I, but seems things have changed." Fíli chuckled. "He made it very clear that he considers the child to be of both Kíli and Tauriel, even though Kíli was the only one who carved it. I'd like to see anyone argue with him about that, when it's about his pack like this." His pride, Thorin sometimes called his family, and he certainly acted like it. Well, whenever he wasn't going mad, anyway, but really, Fíli would rather not think of such things on such a happy day.

"I hope he can keep them safe, then." Ori blinked, then looked startled. "Ah! Not that I'm doubting his abilities at keeping everyone safe, I only meant —"

"I know, I know." Fíli reached a hand to touch Ori's shoulder, hoping to calm him. The effect was almost immediate. Ori's ears, perked up in alarm just a moment earlier, relaxed enough for Fíli to see the difference, and his tail, puffed up in a startled state, started wagging instead.

Except… that wasn't a calm thing at all. Why would he do that? It didn't make sense.

Fíli felt like he should have said something else, but instead he found himself lost in his inspection of Ori. Ori was standing there right in front of him, looking up at him with bright eyes, expression open and unafraid. His tail was wagging happily, excitedly even, and he was so very, very close.

Without even thinking about it, Fíli leaned in, one hand still on Ori's shoulder, and kissed him.

Fíli was not, as a matter of fact, an experienced kisser. In fact, if he were to be entirely honest, the number of times he had actually kissed someone else could probably be counted on the fingers of one hand, and was mostly limited to a couple of very drunken nights back in Ered Luin where he had sneaked out for an evening of fun and remembered very little in the morning. This was nothing like the vague memories of those encounters with nameless dwarves he could not have recognised in the light of day. Ori was lovely and new in every way, his lips parting just a little under Fíli's, wispy whiskers brushing against Fíli's own beard, his body warm and firm as Fíli reached his arms around Ori to draw him closer.

Then, however, Ori was pushing him away, an undeniable strength in his slight frame that abruptly reminded Fíli that Dori had been known as the strongest dwarf in all of Ered Luin. "I — what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry." Fíli stumbled back a step, then two. "I — I'm not sure what came over me. I shouldn't have done that, I didn't —"

"You really shouldn't have." Ori's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment or anger or both, Fíli wasn't entirely sure. His arms were crossed over his chest now that he had pushed Fíli away, creating a barrier between them that Fíli couldn't hope to break. "What was that about?"

"I told you, I'm sorry." Fíli sighed. "I just — I thought —"

"Yes?" And of course Ori would have to push, Ori always pushed, he never could leave Fíli get away without answering. "What exactly did you think?"

"I thought you liked me." He had admitted more embarrassing things before, but not very many. "Since, well, I realised you're always wagging your tail when you see me, and now you did it when I touched you, just like Kíli always does when he's near Tauriel, and I just —"

"And what? Thought that just because I might like you, you can do whatever you want without even asking?" Okay, that was definitely anger.

"No!" Fíli was utterly shocked at the mere suggestion. "I didn't — I wouldn't —"

"Yes, you did." Ori was glaring at him, now. Fíli wasn't sure Ori had ever looked at him with such anger. "You decided that since I like you — since you think I like you, at that, you didn't even ask! — you could just kiss me without any warning!"

"And I'm sorry for that." What else could he say? "It's just — I was so happy, with the Kíli thing and everything, and you were so pretty and so close, and I just — I'm sorry. I'm just making excuses, I know." His ears and tail drooped as he hung his head. "That was rude of me. I'm sorry, I'll just — I'll just go."

"You can really be stupid sometimes." Ori sighed. "But then, I suppose I already knew that." His tone didn't sound quite so angry anymore, and Fíli chanced a glance up at him. Ori still didn't look particularly happy, but at least he didn't look terribly angry right now. That was improvement, right?

"You don't think I know?" Fíli offered his best self-deprecating smirk. Perhaps it would placate Ori somewhat. "Mahal, I think there are probably elves out in the west who know that I act without thinking sometimes. Which still doesn't excuse that, but, you know. I didn't mean anything bad by it."

"I know you didn't, which is why I won't tell my brothers about this." Fíli would have lied if he'd claimed that wasn't a relief. He had been in battles before, had fought a downright war, and all that didn't make him any less scared of the wrath of Dori and Nori if he actually hurt their baby brother. "Goodness knows that wouldn't end well at all."

"Certainly not for me." Fíli shook his head. "I'll do whatever you want me to, to make up for that. Just — I don't want you to hate me, even if I'm a stupid idiot."

"You're not an idiot, just thoughtless. Didn't we already establish that?" Ori finally let his arms fall to the sides, and that was a small relief as well. He paused for a moment before finally asking, "Whatever I want?"

"Anything." That much, he could promise, and not just because he knew Ori was too nice to ask anything entirely unreasonable. "Well. As long as it's within my power, anyway."

"Right." Ori's ears twitched, and he looked almost — nervous? But why would Ori be nervous about this? It didn't make any sense. "Then — would you kiss me again?"

"I — what?" Fíli was fairly certain he had heard something wrong, here.

"You heard me." Ori's arms were shaking enough for Fíli to see it, but his gaze was steady. "You want me to forgive you, then kiss me again."

"But — I thought you didn't want that?"

"I don't want you just assuming you can kiss me without asking." That was — well. Not entirely strange, he supposed. "That's not the same as saying I never want you kissing me."

Now, Fíli managed a grin. "You drive a hard bargain, Master Ori, but I think I can manage that."

He could almost get used to such harsh demands.

*

Ori's ears, Fíli was finding out, were incredibly soft and nice to scratch.

He'd been hesitant about it at first, not sure how Ori would react to having them touched. He knew some people were quite sensitive about their ears, and Ori's looked so delicate for their size, Fíli wasn't sure he should touch them at all. However, as he ran his hand through Ori's hair in the silence of his room, his fingertips brushed against one big ear and Ori gave out a peculiar sound.

It was almost like a growl, yet not quite so aggressive, a soft rumble that seemed to be coming from somewhere deep in Ori's throat. Fíli immediately drew his hand away, and the sound stopped. A moment later, Ori opened his eyes, his gaze sleepy and happy.

"Hmm? Why'd you stop? That was nice."

"Sorry. I just — I thought you were growling at me."

"Ah. Sorry." Ori chuckled, shifting just a bit closer to Fíli. He might have imagined they could not get any closer, lying chest to chest with their legs intertwined, yet somehow Ori managed, face pressing against Fíli's shoulder. "It's a good sound, I promise. It's — it means I'm happy."

"Right." Fíli still waited a moment, then brought his hand back into Ori's hair. It felt so soft in his fingers, and the ears were softer still. Very carefully, he scratched at their base, curious about Ori's reactions. This gained him another low rumble, which he figured was a good thing. "It's — what is it?"

"It's a purr." Right. That was a word he was familiar with, barely. "You know cats? Men sometimes have them, as pets and their furs both. Small things, hunt rodents. They purr when they're happy."

"You're a fox, though." And he had certainly never heard of foxes making such sounds. Not that he had ever before been lying in bed with a sated fox, mind, but still.

"And clearly I'm not the same kind of a fox as my brothers, so there's that." Ori's hand settled against Fíli's chest, his nimble fingers lacking the callouses of a warrior or a miner, and Fíli wasn't sure he had ever been quite so happy. "Just — that feels good."

Fíli couldn't help but smirk a bit. "You weren't purring before. Does that mean you weren't happy then?"

"As I recall, I made more than enough sounds for you to hear." Fíli was somewhat surprised that Ori could actually say that without getting overly embarrassed, but then, he already knew that Ori in private among people he trusted and liked was quite different from the Ori out in public. And clearly he trusted and liked Fíli to some extent at least, or they wouldn't have been here in this situation. Certainly not with all their clothes on the floor.

The room wasn't terribly warm, but the blanket was doing a good job of keeping the cold out. It was nice and warm underneath, with both their bodies radiating heat, and Fíli wasn't sure when he had last felt so comfortable.

He scratched Ori's ears for a while longer, listening to the soft purr, like stones rubbing together but so much more pleasant. His hand slid down along Ori's hair, then, down his back, tracing the little bumps of his spine. The tail he found at the bottom was thick and fluffy, even softer than the ears, and Fíli slowly stroked it with his hand until he realised Ori must have fallen asleep.

Fíli was just about to blow out the one candle left lit next to his bed and join Ori in his slumber when the door was pushed ajar. Fíli had a moment's panic — he was certain he had locked it! — until he recognised the face peeking in. No, he didn't think any lock would have kept Nori out if he wanted in.

He stayed still, waiting for Nori to say something. There was no hiding the truth, not with Ori's clothes mixed with his on the floor and the big ears just barely visible from under the covers. All he could hope for was that Nori would not stab him to death as long as he was holding Ori.

"I'm not even going to bother to threaten you," Nori said finally. "Not for sleeping with my brother, in any case. Ori's old enough to decide on his own bedmates, that's none of my business, and if he decides to get his heart broken then he'll have learnt a lesson. However." Nori shifted, leaning against the door frame as though he were entirely relaxed and not potentially levelling threats at the crown prince. "If you ever mislead him about your intentions, or otherwise lie to him… well. I don't even need to threaten you about that, because you're a bloody Durin through and through, and your own guilt for being so dishonourable would pain you more than anything Dori or I could do to you."

"Right." Fíli swallowed, trying to lie very still so he wouldn't startle Ori awake.

"As long as you keep that in mind." Nori seemed about to draw away and leave, but then he paused. "Also. If you decide to go gold mad like your uncle, I will make you into a rug before I let you anywhere near my brother in that state. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." He'd prefer that, really. He had seen how Thorin tormented himself over his own mad actions; Nori's knives would be less painful than the guilt of hurting Ori in his sickness.

"Good." With that, Nori disappeared, the door closing behind him without a sound. How he did that, Fíli had no idea. He could never get the door to close quietly, and he lived in this bloody room.

Ori shifted a bit, making a quiet sound in his sleep. Fíli pressed a small kiss to his hair — that was allowed, right? — and then drew him even closer.

Today, Fíli decided, was the happiest day of his entire life so far.

Perhaps his tail wasn't too prone to wagging, but right now, he definitely understood the sentiment.


End file.
